No More Checkers
by Sketcher1994
Summary: "How many times do I have to tell ya not to knock?" Gajeel glared as he swung his front door open to find his closest friend standing in the hallway. He sighed as he spotted her tear stained cheeks. She shuffled past him into his flat and dropped down onto his couch. He grabbed the box of tissues from the coffee table and sat down beside her. What had upset her this time?


**AN: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima!**

 **So, I randomly gave myself a challenge to use _every_ prompt in a prompt list posted on Tumblr by nxhan! This is supposed to be a Gajeel &Juvia BroTP one-shot, but there is some Gruvia and Gajevy! ^_^ Please enjoy! ^_^**

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"How many times do I have to tell ya not to knock?" Gajeel glared as he swung his front door open to find his closest friend standing in the hallway. "Get in here, loser." He sighed as he spotted her tear stained cheeks. "Why the hell did ya think I gave you a key?"

"Juvia is sorry, but your key is at Juvia's and Juvia wanted to come straight to see you." She sniffed as she shuffled past him into his open plan living room and kitchen. She dropped down onto his couch with a 'plop', dislodging her tall hat, and squeezed one of the dark grey scatter cushions to her ample chest. She buried her face into it.

"Can ya not- Never mind." He grunted as his cushion began its career as a sponge. He grabbed the box of tissues from the coffee table and awkwardly sat down next to her. "D-Do ya need a hug?" He offered as he held out the black cardboard box of 'man-size' white tissues.

Juvia latched her arms around his thick neck and buried her face into the collar of his shirt as she began to wail louder. He removed the stained cushion from his lap where it had landed as she had thrown herself at him before wrapping his left arm around her comfortingly. He rubbed her left shoulder blade lightly as her sobbing began to lighten. A sniff escaped her and he squeezed her shoulder as he sighed. Her large, watery, navy blue eyes slowly rose to look back up at him. He sighed again pointedly and rolled his eyes at her.

"So, ya gonna tell me what's wrong?" He grumbled as he fell back against the couch, pulling her with him.

"Juvia has been asked if she will stop checkers." She sniffed, looking back at him in utter despair.

He had never been so confused in his entire life.

"What do ya mean when ya say no more checkers?" He frowned, racking his brain for some clue that he had clearly forgotten.

"Juvia teaches checkers at the games night in the town hall, but she was told that not enough people were interested, so she has been told not to continue!" She clarified with another heaving sob. Gajeel handed her a giant, flimsy tissue and sighed again.

"That doesn't mean they don't want ya there." He grunted, squeezing her shoulder again.

"Juvia is not sure she wishes to return..." Juvia mumbled as she looked away from his sharp gaze. "Juvia is sure that they were laughing at her when she left...It is ok though since Juvia is used to it." She finished with a fake bright smile.

"No, it's not okay! I'll kick their damn asses for hurting you!" He snapped as he suddenly jumped to his feet and accidentally caused Juvia to roll off of him onto her knees on the floor. "Shit! Sorry!" He rushed as he fumbled to help her onto her feet. "Right, where the hell is this thing supposed to be?! I'm going there right now!" He continued as he grabbed her hat off of the couch.

"Can we just stay home and watch sad movies and eat ice cream?" Juvia mumbled into the giant black leather jacket she was wearing.

"No, we're going." He declared as he marched towards the door and snatched his coat off of the back of it.

He turned to see Juvia scurry over to the kettle. She switched it on before grabbing two mugs and the tub of hot chocolate power. She smiled innocently at him and opened his freezer to pull out an expensive tub of dark chocolate and almond ice cream for him and a refreshing-but-heavy tub of dark chocolate and mint ice cream for herself.

"Oh just make yourself at home, why don't ya?!" He glared as she grabbed four teaspoons and started spooning the chocolate powder into the mugs. "Put the ice cream back in the freezer and get yer ass over here."

"But-"

"Now!"

* * *

Gajeel stormed in the front door of the town hall with Juvia trying desperately to pull him back out by his bicep. Gajeel scanned the hall for someone who looked like they had some sort of authority and locked eyes with a young man that just happened to glance in his direction. He had tufted midnight blue hair and serious, droopy, dark eyes as he glared back at Gajeel. The man suddenly blinked as he spotted Juvia hanging off of Gajeel and then went back to glaring at Gajeel as he stood where he was.

"Yo, Dipshit, get over here!" He yelled, startling the other people in the club. The man's glare sharpened before finally moving towards them.

"Gajeel-kun, we should just leave! We should not have come!" Juvia pleaded as she restarted her attempt to drag him back out the door.

"Juvia, is everything ok?" The man frowned as he approached them.

"Gajeel-kun, please can we leave before he reaches us?" She begged quietly as she glanced over at the man in obvious embarrassment.

"Are ya crazier than usual or is it just me?" He grunted as he studied her carefully.

"Juvia isn't crazy," the man sighed as he reached them, "but I would have thought her boyfriend would have known that."

"Huh?" Gajeel frowned, looking between Juvia and the glaring man.

"I would have thought her boyfriend knew that she wasn't crazy," he reiterated, before narrowing his eyes at Gajeel, "and watch your language; there's kids here."

"I'm not her boyfriend, if that's what ya're getting at," Gajeel corrected as he took another step into the hall, dragging Juvia behind him. She dived behind him with a squeak as the strange man looked at her, "but I'm here to talk to the bastard that upset her. Judging by her reaction, I'd say that was you."

"What are you talking about? This is the first I've seen of Juvia all night." The man returned, clearly confused. "What happened?" He added as he tried to look behind Gajeel to speak to Juvia.

"Juvia is sorry, Gray-sama, but Gajeel-kun overreacted when she told him that she had been told not to teach checkers anymore." Juvia explained bashfully as she peaked out past Gajeel.

"I- I overreacted?! You came into my flat bawling yer eyes out like someone had died!" Gajeel exclaimed as he spun around to face her.

"Gajeel?" A familiar female voice called out in obvious confusion. He froze and slowly turned around to face the source.

"Shrimp...Hey." He replied as he rubbed his neck awkwardly. "I forgot ya came to this too."

"What are you doing here?" She frowned as she looked between him and the other two.

"Juvia got told to stop her checkers, so I..." He began, glancing away from the little blue haired woman a few feet away from him. "I came to help my friend, ok? Ya're normally the one telling me I don't do enough for 'friends'." He huffed as he folded his arms across his broad chest.

"Who told you to stop?" Gray frowned as he took another step towards her.

"Ju-Juvia was-"

"Is that my jacket that's been missing for a month?" He suddenly burst out, cutting her off. "I wondered what I'd done with that!"

"J-Juvia is sorry, Gray-sama! You leant it to Juvia last month when Juvia forgot her umbrella on the bus...Juvia had planned to give it back, but Juvia has not seen Gray-sama to talk to in weeks." Juvia blushed. Gajeel rolled his eyes at his friend, then suddenly remembered the presence of his girlfriend.

"So, Shrimp, ya having fun?" He asked awkwardly and she giggled back up at him.

"Yes, Gajeel, I am. Would you like to join us?" She smiled, a knowing look in her eyes.

"Nah, I'm alright, thanks." He grunted as he eyed up the door, ready to make his escape. "I just came for Juvia."

"Well, if she wants, I'll play checkers with her?" Levy offered brightly.

"No, you already have a game of chess going," Gray pointed out, shifting slightly as Juvia suddenly looked disappointed, "I'll play her."

"Really?!" Juvia beamed, her hands clasping in front of her chest.

"Yeah, sure...I'll ask around first to find out if anyone else wants to go before me though; I'm supposed to be supervising the kids' games." He nodded as he gestured over towards the groups of kids gathered around various board games.

"O-Ok, Juvia will go set up a table and wait." She replied dejectedly.

"Ya ok?" Gajeel grunted as Gray headed back over to the kids.

"Juvia- Juvia is not okay...Juvia is confused and has managed to drag you into her problems..." Juvia mumbled as she began to fidget. "Juvia is really sorry, Gajeel-kun..."

"It's fine, Juvia," Gajeel smirked fondly down at her. "but are ya ok?"

"Juvia just...wants a hug right now." She explained quietly. Gajeel wrapped his arms around her and grinned through his blush as she jumped in surprise.

"Ya're the biggest loser I know and that's why we're friends." He murmured quietly to her before shoving her back lightly. "Now go play checkers with yer boyfriend."

"Should I be jealous?" Levy hummed as she tapped her chin thoughtfully, watching as Juvia skipped away with an impressive colour to her cheeks.

"What're ya talking about?" He grunted, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Well, you wouldn't come here for me, but you will come here for Juvia and hug her in the middle of the town hall." Levy continued, grinning as his ears burned brightly. "I shall just have to go find someone else to hug me." She finished as she spun on her heels.

"Like hell!" He exclaimed as she began to bounce away. "Get back here and love me, Shrimp! I'm gonna make ya regret that!"


End file.
